Did this comment catch anyone's ear? I have a few explanations for this comment:a. Stephen is gay, not that there's anything wrong with thatb. Stephen is straight but has limited experience with womenc. Stephen is going for broke and playing this game full on

I vote for C. I think Stephen is one of the most sophisticated and subtle players in the game. He is letting people believe that he's the quiet, "one beat behind" city kid just happy to not have bugs crawling up his arse. Who knows, he may be gay and/or he may have limited experience with women, but that is irrelevant. This guy could go deep.

Word on the street: People like Taj and I can see why. She's coming across as a likable, hard working, and industrious player. But boy did she make a potential million- dollar mistake when she gave the idol to Stephen.

Let me answer your question before you ask it...Stephen is absolutely correct that at this moment, the idol belongs to him. Case closed.

INSIGHT: Within the rules of Survivor, Taj has absolutely zero claim to the idol. If you give the idol to someone for "safe keeping" you better trust them because the person who possesses it owns it. Period. The only exception is theft –you cannot steal the idol from someone.

So the moment Taj handed that idol to Stephen she gave away the single most powerful thing in the game and trust me, Stephen is aware of this stroke of luck. Even if she had put conditions on it, such as "you have to give it to me if I need it" – doesn't matter. Remember Dreams and Yau-Man and the car negotiation for a vote that never materialized. Same thing. A Survivor agreement is only as good as the word of the person on the other end of the negotiation.

Man, oh man I love how easily Sierra can improv a lie...on the spot. She asked Deb for the most valuable information, "is everyone with you?" Deb's response gave Sierra an open door to talk freely with Brendan. What's wrong with you people?!! Have you not watched Survivor before? You don't leave people alone to strategize. It's like watching a horror movie when the ***y woman goes back in the house and you yell at the screen, "Haven't you watched horror movies!!!? You never go back in the house!" Dumb. Just plain dumb.

Drumroll please...not only is this my favorite quote from this episode, it tops anything Coach has said thus far:

Ext. Charmin Café – DayThe tribe enjoys their coffee and pastries. J.T. gets up to stretch and finds a collection of envelopes sitting in a hammock. Excitement breaks out as the Survivors scream to one another:Sydney: Oh cool, what is it!!!?J.T.: I don't know what it is.Joe: Is it a menu?(Beat)Taj: Is it a gift certificate?!!!

"Is it a gift certificate?" "Is it...a...gift certificate." When I saw the first cut of this episode I must have watched that moment twenty times and I giggled myself silly every single time. Yeah Taj, it's a Survivor gift certificate. Good for use at your local Survivor store where you can buy anything your imagination can dream up! It's only good for one year so be sure to use it soon. Restrictions apply, consult the back of your gift certificate for full details.

There's nothing wrong with Taj's comment. It wasn't mean. It didn't hurt anyone. She wasn't being selfish. What I find so fascinating about Taj's comment is what it reveals. Nestled there in the jungle with her coffee and donut, Taj felt safe enough to let her guard down just for a moment and in doing so revealed so much about her life back home. Clearly, Taj loves her gift certificates and when that is the first thought that comes to your mind you obviously get them quite often. Evidently Eddie is very good to Taj.

And while we're at it, let me just address those of you who will write something along the lines of "how can these idiots get so emotional over a damn letter from home? It's not like they've been gone that long anyway."

Well the logical answer to that question goes like this: If a "thing," any "thing," continues to happen season after season, from one group of Survivors to another then there is probably something to it. Kinda like when you water a plant and it always seems to grow. Okay, that analogy sucked, but you guys know my analogies suck and you get what I'm saying anyway. Moving on.

I know I said I wouldn't talk about Coach but I have to address his ability to predict the weather. It was shaman-like. Spooky. Dude is gifted. Touched. In the head perhaps, but touched.

J.T. was an animal in the reward challenge. He nearly singlehandedly won that challenge for Jalapao. He just needed a little bit of support from anyone else on his tribe but he didn't get it.

Now to the tooth issue. Here's what happened: He didn't lose his entire tooth. He only lost half of his tooth. Not so bad, right? It was as if you shaved the top layer off, so he still had a tooth in his gum, it was just half as thick as normal. J.T. is one tough dude. J.T. reminds me how tough I'm not. I'm not sure where it all went wrong....I was born in Kansas, that's "tough guy" country, but damnit, if I lost half a tooth I would have milked that like a Holstein.

INSIGHT: After the challenge, you saw me give J.T. the tooth. He then took it back to camp but decided he didn't want it. Had no use for it. Didn't care that the rest of his tooth might fall out. "I'm a cowboy. I don't need my teeth anyway. " Okay he didn't actually say that but he might as well have. He gave it to medical and they gave it back to me and I now have it in my house. It's in a plastic bag and I will bring it with me to the live show in case he's changed his mind. Otherwise I will sell it to the highest bidder, so start saving your pennies.

Taj – I like seeing Taj get mad for no other reason than I just enjoy it. She's fun when she's mad. Was it a good move? Absolutely not. Fun to watch? Oh yeah. You know that woman can go off on people!! I would not want to be on the other end of Taj getting mad, like say, for instance, if you forgot to give her a gift certificate or something.

Finally – Spencer. I dig Spencer. I like how he carried himself in the game. He was much younger than most everyone else in this game, he was a huge Survivor fan, and he was endlessly enthusiastic. Maybe that's what did him in. I wish he had lasted longer because I know how badly he wanted to play this game.

INSIGHT: Spencer was an alternate this season. We don't even usually bring alternates, but this season our casting director, Lynne Spillman, just had a hunch we might need one so she insisted we bring Spencer, "just in case." It was the night before we were set to begin and it didn't look good for Spencer making the show. He was really bummed. We tried to keep his spirits up by reminding him that there was still a chance that he could be a part of next season.

Then in a strange Survivor twist of fate, one of our contestants did not pass the mandatory final physical exam. He would be unable to participate and we had an opening. Dave Burris (Exec Producer) Dr. Liza, (show psychologist) and I went over to share the news with Spencer. We decided to have a little fun with him knowing that ultimately we had good news to present. We pulled him aside from everyone else and with very sad faces said, "Spencer...about next season...it's not gonna work out." This put an end to the last glimmer of hope Spencer thought he had of being on Survivor. We let the sadness hang for only a moment before continuing, "...because you're on this season!!" He erupted in joy to the point where we had to quiet him down so the other contestants wouldn't hear him and figure out he had been an alternate all along. It was one of the most enjoyable moments in the history of my time on Survivor because he was so excited.

So long Spencer, it was short but hopefully it quenched your Survivor thirst.

OKAY LISTEN UP: Because of NCAA basketball on CBS, our schedule will change a bit over the next 3 weeks. Here it is:

March 19 (next week): We are NOT on at all! (Bummmmer, I know.)

March 25: We are on WEDNESDAY NIGHT with a really cool "never before scenes" special. There are some great scenes that will crack you up, including Coach conducting. It's really good stuff. I know a lot of you guys hate this episode so we worked especially hard to make it rock! One of our best producers Daren sweated night and day for weeks to find stuff worthy of your time. Give it a shot if you're around.

Thursday, April 2: WE ARE BACK! I've just seen the episode. It's fantastic. You're gonna love the rest of this season.

While "Survivor" host Jeff Probst may tell voted-off contestants at the end of every episode that "the tribe has spoken," audiences have spoken and there's no end in sight for the CBS's stalwart reality series "Survivor." Our Jim Halterman talked to Probst about how the Mark Burnett-produced series is a lot like life, whether brains or brawn get you further in the competition and his response to being called ***y.

Jim Halterman: After 18 seasons of "Survivor," why haven't people figured out how to win the game with ease?

Jeff Probst: I don't think that's the right question. I think the way to look at it is from the opposite side, which is that you cannot change who you are. You can walk into this game and say 'Alright, I'm going to be middle of the pack, I'm not going to ruffle any feathers, I'm going to make strong alliances and I'm going to listen really well.' But if you're a natural leader, then that's a bunch of bullshit and what you're really going to do is on the day two you're going to get so frustrated with the guy in the black shorts that doesn't get it and you're going to say. 'Listen, what you need to do is put the rope like this and you're done' and now you're a leader and you can't turn back. And the other guy goes 'Why are you saying that?' Well, he's saying it because it's in his nature. It's the whole scorpion and the frog thing. The frog gives the scorpion a ride and then the scorpion kills him. Why? Because it's what I do.

JH: So "Survivor" is just a big metaphor for life.

JP: Oh, yeah. 100%. "Survivor" has always been a microcosm of the same human interaction that's going on in the office or the family or in the pick-up basketball game. You cannot change who you are. You drop in on a group of guys playing basketball, within about three minutes you can tell that's the nice guy. He just likes to get out here and exercise. But the dude in the middle? The tall guy? He's the boss. He's a pain in the ass and he's always right. We see it all the time.

JH: The last episode that aired was interesting when Spencer revealed to the camera that he's gay but made a choice not to tell anyone else because he feared it would influence the game. But then he got the boot anyway and it had nothing to do with his ***uality. What do you make of that line of thinking?

JP: I think Spencer was right. I think his instincts were that guys like J.T. wouldn't know what to do with it and in "Survivor" you're playing a game that is about elimination. The goal is don't give nobody a reason to get rid of me and all it takes is something that's different than everyone else. I think in Spencer's case, being gay, when you talk about "Survivor" bringing together people from all walks of life that can be enough. If the show was only filled with New Yorkers or Californians maybe you'd have a different way of looking at it but when it's filled with people from all over the country, you've got to be careful what you admit. You know, Brendan created Bear Naked Granola and it's worth like $20 million. He damn sure doesn't want anybody to know that.

JH: Would you say it's more of a brain game than a brawn game or a little of both.

JP: I think it is neither. I think "Survivor" is first and foremost a social game. Typically, the people who do well, not always the winner but do well, typically are the same people who do well at parties and other places where they're good at reading people, pop into a conversation and pop out. That's the essence of the game and then layered on top of that is the physicality required to last a long time, be good at challenges so you can win your way to the end and also the brain power to be able to constantly assess and reassess the different miracle combinations that are on-going at any given time. If I do this with her, and she does that with him that leaves me in this situation but if this happens, and you're constantly running these schemes so I don't mean to imply that it's enough to be a person who's great at cocktail parties. I'm just saying the foundation is if you can't get along people, it's very hard to win this game because the structure of "Survivor" requires that seven people come back and decide who wins and those are seven people that you helped vote out so you have to be incredibly diplomatic in how you get rid of people in addition to it being a difficult game.

JH: When you're actually filming, can you tell when you have a good crop of contestants and the show is going well or do you have to wait for the editing to get in there?

JP: That's a good question. I have the same philosophy every season, which is, I have my own gut take and whenever we come home that's pretty much what I say in interviews. I highlight what I think is the best part but the audience is the ultimate decider. They're the ultimate judges and they determine whether it was good or not. We've had seasons when we came back and I thought they were really pretty good and the audience was ho-hum about. Likewise, we came home from Gabon, which I didn't think was that great of a season but I had a lot of people tell me that they really enjoyed it. One of the things "Survivor" has going for it is it's a really good format. The structure of the show tends to work over and over and over. You put new people in the same situation and then you think what are they going to do and what would I do if I were in that same situation.

JH: Talk to me about Exile Island. I love the concept and it seems to be a breeding ground for building alliances. How did you bring that into the show?

JP: Exile Island is a great example of the show informing us because it was actually born back in our tenth season in Palou when we had this woman Jeaneau and she ended up all alone on this island and she was the least likely person that you would ever think would survive. She didn't know how to make fire, she was afraid, she didn't like the water but she was left on her own and lo and behold she changed her life. She got scrappy and she made fire and it was a huge epiphany for her, this great dramatic moment and that's where that idea was born. Wow, isolating someone on their own is a pretty good breeding ground for drama. But this season we tried something different where we bring opposite tribes together and we got some gold. We got an alliance that's a cross-tribal alliance and nobody really knows about it so it has potential to be really powerful.

JH: Is there going to be another All-Star edition?

JP: I would imagine we're going to do another one. I was not a fan in the beginning. When Moonves announced that we were doing the first All-Stars in Season 8, I thought What?! And clearly, as is so often the case, I was completely wrong since it was one of our most popular seasons ever and then we just did Fans Versus Favorites, which is one of my all-time favorite seasons. It was fantastic. I think we're going to be doing another one. One of the great things about reality shows is you find these great characters and then you only get them for one season so why not bring them back. The audience seems to love seeing their favorite people again.

JH: Can the show go on infinitely and how long do you plan on sticking around?

JP: First part of the question, I have no idea. We haven't lost a regular Thursday night since 2003. That's a very little known fact maybe but in terms of the television industry it's well known. Thursday night at 8 is pretty much owned by "Survivor." And we've had show after show after show come up against us and every season I'm told by somebody that this is the season we're going to knocked off by somebody but we've continued to hold our own. We have such a loyal audience, they're so good to us that I think the show could run awhile longer and as far as my involvement, I'll be completely honest with you, I have no idea. We're in an economy where having any job is a blessing and I have one of the greatest jobs that any mortal could hope to have and, yet, I don't know how long.

JH: I asked "Amazing Race" host Phil Keoghan a few weeks ago if he ever expected to become a *** symbol by hosting a reality show.

JP: I've always thought Phil was ***y so it doesn't surprise me at all. [Laughs.] Who said I was a *** symbol?

JH: I've heard it. It's out there.

JP: I don't really look at it that way. I'm trying to answer your question.

JH: You've already said more than Phil. He was completely stymied.

JP: There's no way to answer it because you sound like an idiot no matter what. It's been an interesting ride to go from absolute anonymity to being on a show that is in 15 million homes every week. That part is what's weird. I travel around and I meet people who stop me all the time in airports and places and they talk about how much they love the show and that feels really good because "Survivor" is still a family show and I'm proud of it. I'm so glad I'm on a show and can meet a seven year old and talk to him about how much he loves Ozzie but I can also meet a 77-year old who can say 'In my hey-day I would've kicked ass on that show.' That is the best part. And I think that although I had a fairly rocky start I think for the most part I've earned trust in the people who watch the show and that makes me feel very good. I'm very proud of "Survivor."

Okay, first let me address Survivor not being on the air during the NCAA Basketball tournament. On behalf of our entire crew I'd like to say…"We hate being interrupted!! We feel your pain. We have absolutely no say. It's a network decision and college hoops are big business, so that's that.

Moving on….

I'm gonna start with Coach. Tonight Coach got to me. Coach has a hard time accepting any kind of blame yet he is always the first to blame others. Tonight, had I been on his tribe, Coach would have irritated me to the point of me saying something that I would no doubt later regret.

Coach is also a martyr. Whoa, I thought my mom had that market cornered. Move over Barbara, Coach wants the throne. When they lose half a pot of their beans, it's a big damn deal. There isn't a craft services counter just around the corner with Red Vines and donuts. But Coach can't just say, "my bad" and get on with it. When Coach says he'll take full blame he doesn't mean it for one second.

Nonetheless, Coach once again wins the quote of the night:

Coach: "I probably won't make a second pot…for my beans."

I know many of you hate that I love Coach, but you gotta admit that was a funny line. And hey, for at least one week maybe we can all come together and hate Coach equally. Okay, I'm done with that.

SMART PLAYER UPDATE:Brendan is now my pick as the smartest player left in the game. Brendan is one smart dude. Brendan could win. Brendan's fate will come down to how he fares with Coach 'cause Coach wants him gone. Beware granola boy…the Dragon Slayer lurks….

Tyson is also a very smart player. He's trying to hover in the middle and stay out of the way. It's a good overall strategy but not for him. He's too much of a threat. He needs to make a big move very soon and try to take this game over or he'll get his throat cut.

J.T. is smart and certainly playing a very different game under the heading of "good ole country boy" but he almost blew it tonight. Voting out Taj would have been a huge mistake. You do not vote out someone from your alliance this early in the game. I now have to knock him down a couple of pegs. That was almost a fatal mistake.

Stephen is right there too, playing his own version of "Who me? I'm just happy to be here." The jury is still out on exactly how shrewd he is, but one thing is clear…Stephen is a lousy liar. That conversation with J.T. about the immunity idol was uncomfortable to watch.

Taj is second tier smart. I know that reading this will irritate her but it's how I feel. She's very good, but she will only win if the others destroy themselves. And Taj, are you out of your mind giving up the idol? Of course you are. You are out of your mind woman. I am 99% certain that your man Eddie George was on the couch tonight saying, "You did what, baby?!!" That was a big time mistake and you better find a way to get that idol back A.S.A.P., 'cause your alliance partners are just dumb enough to vote you out.

In case you were wondering, yes, those pigs were ceramic and yes, they hurt when you caught them.

Damn, Joe's knee. Whoa. That is ugly. Could anyone still doubt this game is for real? Just look at that little tiny nick and how bad it has gotten in just 72 hours. Joe is a hurtin' dude right now. I felt for him so much that it made it hard to laugh when he found the fake idol. I really like Joe. Joe likes Sydney. Sydney has a boyfriend. Joe has a bad knee and a fake idol and likes a girl who has a boyfriend. Joe is in trouble. He's on the outside of the alliance that he should be a part of. Poor Joe.

INSIGHT: At the end of the waterfall reward, you see a very big shot from high above looking down on the Survivors swimming in the water. That shot comes from our helicopter, which is standing by, ready for action 24/7. When a producer needs a shot, they call the chopper crew. Our helicopter cameraman, Mark Hyrma, and the helicopter pilot are up and spinning within 10 minutes. They communicate via walkie-talkie and within 20 minutes they have the shot and are heading back to base camp. This is a major luxury. It comes from Mark Burnett insisting from day one that this show have an epic look. The helicopter shot is a staple of Survivor and one of the many reasons the show looks so good season after season.

PERSONAL SHARING: Last weekend, I had dinner with Mark Burnett and his beautiful wife, Roma Downey. They invited some people over to their house and it was quite nice. Okay, reallllly nice. I mean the dude is quite successful, and Roma… anybody remember Touched By An Angel? Yeah, it was a little hit show that she starred in for over a decade, so they're doing fine and what's really cool is that they are good people. They're fun to be around. They know how to throw a dinner party. In fact, they throw such a good dinner party that they even hired some musical entertainment for the night. But here's the best part…they hired a piano player and singer named Mike Darnell to entertain us all. Now to most of you that name might not mean anything, but to Hollywood industry folks, Mike Darnell is a HUGE name. Darnell runs FOX reality. He's the network head of American Idol and every other reality show on Fox. Talk about successful. Darnell is a major player in the entertainment world…and here he is playing piano at Burnett's for tips. He said he just really enjoys entertaining people, but I wonder if maybe he lost a bet or something. I can't tell you who else was there, but suffice it to say that I was the answer to the question, "Who in this room does not belong?" Oh, I almost forgot one last part to the story – I wrote this part of the story on Wednesday.

Okay, back to Survivor. Joe is a major flirt. First Sydney, now Erinn, and Erinn likes it. Did you see that hug on Exile? If there wasn't a camera, I think that hug had a chance to become a bit more intimate. Am I reading into it? What do you think?

NOTE TO ALL FUTURE SURVIVOR CONTESTANTS: We LOVE fake idols. We "decorate" your camps and tree mails in a way that there are always plenty of "items" you can use to get creative. So do it. It's so enjoyable to see somebody think they have the real idol when we all know they don't.

Finally we come to Tribal Council – you knew it was only a matter of time. Sydney is this season's beautiful blonde who no one will remember by the end of the show. I'm sorry, Sydney, just being honest. She was destined to leave early. I'm not sure why but it always goes this way; the beautiful blonde always leaves too soon. We loved having you on the show and our crew HATED seeing you leave, but let's face it, you never really had a shot at winning so it's just as well before the bugs did too much damage.

If there is an award given to great bloggers JP would win. He has such a way of summing things up . . . gotta love him!!!

Yeah hes pretty awesome! plus he gives away spoilers

Joe must be the one medevaced, when? No clue yet!

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Damn, Joe's knee. Whoa. That is ugly. Could anyone still doubt this game is for real? Just look at that little tiny nick and how bad it has gotten in just 72 hours. Joe is a hurtin' dude right now. I felt for him so much that it made it hard to laugh when he found the fake idol. I really like Joe. Joe likes Sydney. Sydney has a boyfriend. Joe has a bad knee and a fake idol and likes a girl who has a boyfriend. Joe is in trouble. He's on the outside of the alliance that he should be a part of. Poor Joe.

Brendan = next weeks title

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SMART PLAYER UPDATE:Brendan is now my pick as the smartest player left in the game. Brendan is one smart dude. Brendan could win. Brendan's fate will come down to how he fares with Coach 'cause Coach wants him gone. Beware granola boy…the Dragon Slayer lurks….

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post sooner, but I just wanted to thank all of you for tuning into "I Get That A Lot," this past week.

The special pulled in some great numbers and I really had a really fun time doing it.

I also added in a cool behind the scenes 2-part video that shows how our amazing openings are shot. I know I say this a lot, but it is really the honest truth. We have some of the most talented people working with us on our Survivor crew. It's great to be able to show them off to everyone. They are amazing!

Jeff Probst blogs 'Survivor: Tocantins' (episode 6)SMART PLAYER UPDATE:Brendan is now my pick as the smartest player left in the game. Brendan is one smart dude. Brendan could win. Brendan's fate will come down to how he fares with Coach 'cause Coach wants him gone. Beware granola boy…the Dragon Slayer lurks….

have to say, I really enjoyed tonight's episode. It was very different from your typical Survivor episode and maybe that's what I liked about it. I don't always like an episode dominated by strategy talk but tonight was an exception. Tonight, I loved the dizzying amount of strategizing.

There are so many alliances going on that for the first time in 18 seasons I am delightfully confused. I can barely keep track of them all. It doesn't take a very smart 5th grader to tell there are going to be a lot of blindsides coming up in the next few weeks. It's almost guaranteed with this many alliances, not all of them can hold up. Betrayal is coming. To win this season of Survivor you are going to have to play a fantastic mental game from here on out.

If you let your guard down for one moment or trust that anybody is telling you the truth, your odds for being out skyrocket.

Which brings me to Coach. He is one of the most naïve dragon slayers I've ever met. He took JT's handshake and promise of loyalty straight up without a chaser, no ice, just down the hatch. If he didn't have all the tattoos I would seriously wonder if Coach was a real dragon slayer. All the dragon slayers I've met are notoriously lacking in the trust department. It is part of the dragon slayer training. Even Wikipedia has a pretty extensive manual on dragon slaying and the third rule is "trust no one, slay every one."

Speaking of Coach's tattoos, they all look very new. The ink is very bright and colorful. I would think given all of his adventures and death defying escapades that the ink would be a bit faded if for no other reason than all of the wear and tear. QUESTION: Is it possible that he actually got most of the tats in anticipation of Survivor? I bet at least two of them are within the last six months. I'm giving 5-1 odds.

By the way - so many people got upset last week because I said Taj was 'second tier' smart. It had nothing to do with her being a woman, it had to do with the way she is playing the game. I think she is playing a bit passive and that's just my take. Remember, I'm just a reality show host,.. and yes, I get paid either way.

While I'm at it, let me share for those of you who don't read the comments that people make in response to this blog that last weeks collection of responses was the most negative ever! Record setting in veracity and volume. I actually printed out all of the comments and posted them on my refrigerator… and my oven...and my kitchen table...and then I moved to the living room...and finally the downstairs bedroom. The rest of them I took to the local recycling plant, which refused them due to excess weight.

PERSONAL INSIGHT: I hated the stupid "flashes of lightning" we added to Coach's meditative stretching at the top of the show. I don't like any of those cheap effects but clearly I was outvoted this time.

Anybody else wonder how JT still has a belly? I think it's getting bigger, too. Is that from the merge feast? That kid must have eaten a lot. It doesn't take a huge imagination to imagine JT at about 65 years old. Same ole swagger, bit of a grin as he sips on his third beer. He could easily be a sheriff of a small town. Or that guy who everybody knows because he can fix anything. He's the somewhat surly old man who doesn't say much, mostly just nods, which makes him even more mysterious, but when he does talk, the townspeople, they listen.

It's the same on Survivor. People seem to listen to JT. Dunno why exactly but he has an easy way about him and that charm is working very well. People who get other people to listen to them do very well in this game.

QUESTION: Why is everybody so turned off by Brendan? Are they jealous or just threatened? I like Brendan. I can see that he's a threat but everybody seems to have a lot of animosity toward him. I really don't get it.

Tyson is a blast to watch and I love his witty commentary… but Tyson hates everybody. I am so curious what is driving his hatred of Sierra. Doesn't he know, Sierra could end up married to a Survivor producer and then if there's another all-star season and Tyson is on it, he might have to deal with a producer who married Sierra and that could make him feel bad, requiring therapy and possibly acupuncture? Doesn't he think about stuff like that? Who doesn't think about stuff like that? It could happen.

I loved the immunity challenge. For my money, this is the perfect type of Survivor challenge. Very simple in concept but very difficult to execute. Hang on for as long as you can until you have to let go at which point prepare to lose most of your skin.

The best/worst moment of the night had to be Sierra sliding down the post. I still cringe thinking about how much skin scraped off as she caught every part of that pole on her way down. Sierra is a model and I'm guessing her day rate will be greatly diminished as a result of that challenge.

In case you are wondering, my reactions to those things are not fake, we don't come back and shoot them later – I really do make that kind of ridiculous face when I see things like that happen. Biggest drag of the night – losing Joe to an injury. You could tell from his reaction that Joe was in some serious pain. I can tell you from his comments to me after the docs gave him the news that he did not want to leave. He was very disappointed.

INSIGHT: Our medical team checks on the Survivors throughout the course of the show so it was not unusual for them to take a look at Joe. The rules of Survivor are very clear regarding injuries. You can stay in the game as long as you like, unless our doctors decide that an injury is life threatening, at which point our doctors can pull you from the game whether you want to go or not. That is what happened to Joe. Joe did not want to leave, we did not want Joe to leave. The doctors insisted he leave. There was nothing we could do about it. Just like when they took out Penner and James in Fans Vs. Favorites. The doctors have a big voice on Survivor when it comes to the health of the contestants and for good reason. We are in the middle of nowhere and if someone gets in trouble it is not a quick trip around the block to the nearest hospital. In Tocantins, we were several hours by car and nearly two hours by helicopter from the nearest hospital. They looked at his leg and decided the infection was too risky. He was evacuated and taken to hospital and he is doing fine. We have an amazing medical team. They not only take care of the Survivors but also our crew of over 400.

Last word of the night goes to Serena who absolutely hates Stephen. She thinks he is a "three-faced, lying, manipulative, scheming, back-stabber, follower!" To further quote Serena, "He probably started liking the Lakers when Shaq and Kobe won their three rings together." Clearly Serena likes her hoops as well. This is an assessment I agree with completely (except for the follower part) and is further evidence of why I refer to him as a very smart player, definitely first tier.

Came across this hot picture of Jeff showering, was posted by Dreamer on Jokers but he didn't credit where it came from....and no, I wouldn't post it if it showed his jewels.....just some eye candy for the Jeff lovers and I know this is not the proper thread since it has nothing to do with blogs but where to post it?

P.S. If this shouldn't have been posted, let me know and I'll delete, thanks!

I know that's an accident with the spelling (yes?), but it's incidentally funny. Coach as COUCH!!

Sorry tory, not making fun at you in ANY way.. but i seriously think Coach does seem more appropriate for the name Couch.

np i lol at my self i am soooo deslix..ty for talking to me and responding to my post lov it when ppl find the humor in things ..awsome, again never offend by u joab u r one i all ways read on the board..love u r post!!!